I didn’t think I was the only one who thought celebrations were exciting, no matter who or what was being celebrated. You know, like Christmas and New Year’s and stuff.
And when it came to birthdays, I felt even more excited about it than Christmas. Of course I loved my own birthday celebrations, but I really liked celebrating other people’s birthdays too.
Celebrating the birthday of someone I loved—my boyfriend’s—meant that my excitement was at an all-time high. I couldn’t help but wonder if my birthday wishes would make him smile, or if he would like my present, or if he would think that my cooking tasted good.
I knew that it was the thought that counted. Words, gifts, even food—they were all the same, in the sense that they were things we gave to others. No matter how expensive something was, if there was no love given with it, it would fail to move anyone. The most important thing, therefore, was a heartfelt gift.
Especially for me, this was my first time giving a birthday present to a guy. My dad was a separate thing, of course. I meant a guy that wasn’t a family member. It was my first time giving such a gift, so I thought desperately hard about what to get him. I racked my brain, trying to come up with ideas. I even asked Hatsumi and everyone what they thought.
I hope that Yoshin will like what I chose.
Today was our date to celebrate my boyfriend Yoshin’s birthday.
“Yoshin, one more time, with feeling: Happy birthday!” I said.
“Wow, thanks,” he returned, smiling bashfully.
His actual birthday was a few days ago, but in order to make this a more legitimate celebration, I clapped and wished him happy birthday once again.
We were at Yoshin’s house, in his room. Today’s date was a stay-at-home one.
“Yoshin, are you sure it’s okay to stay home like this?” I asked.
Since for my birthday Yoshin had gone out of his way to take me to so many places, I seriously wasn’t sure if it was okay for us to do this for his birthday. Yoshin, though, said that he wanted to relax and spend time together at home. We’d had many occasions to hang out with other people lately, and with more people in Yoshin’s friend circle now, he and I didn’t have that many opportunities to be alone...
Uh, no, we still do.
But even so, I didn’t think we’d been able to be alone from the beginning of a hangout for a while. So it honestly did make me happy to hear he wanted to stay at home, but I still wasn’t sure if that was actually Yoshin’s preference. When I asked him again, though, he got in a good stretch, as though he felt relieved. He actually seemed more laid-back than usual.
“Well, we just got back from our class trip, and we’re both getting over a cold too. Plus we have Christmas coming up, so I thought it’d be nice for us to just chill out for my birthday,” Yoshin replied.
When he added that having a string of events could be tiring, I had to admit that I agreed with him. There were so many fun things we did and had coming up, but having them back-to-back could wear us out. I still worried that Yoshin was putting himself last, but then he let me know that he was a homebody and genuinely preferred this arrangement.
That was why, though, I made sure to ask Yoshin in advance for all of his birthday requests, so that we could have loads of fun even while staying at home. Besides, just because we were at home didn’t mean that I couldn’t prepare a birthday surprise for him.
“Well, then! Let us begin Yoshin’s birthday tako party!” I declared.
“Yay, tako party,” Yoshin said as he clapped, surprising even me with his response.
With his applause as my accompaniment, I placed the takoyaki maker on the table, a hot plate-type that I brought from home. Yoshin’s room was fairly large, so it was nice that we could have a takoyaki party right here without any issues.
“So this is a takoyaki maker, huh?” Yoshin asked. “I’ve only seen photos, but I can’t believe you can actually make takoyaki at home.”
“You really love gadgets, don’t you,” I remarked.
“I really do. Like, thinking about machines I’ve never seen before gets me all excited,” he confessed.
Watching Yoshin intently studying the takoyaki maker made me glad I’d brought it with me. Though my dad was the one who’d actually helped me bring it here in his car.
“Have you ever done a tako party before?” Yoshin asked.
“Yeah, I do it with my parents, or sometimes with Hatsumi and the others. I feel like we used to do it a lot a little while ago,” I replied.
I didn’t think my family and I had done a tako party recently. Last year was probably the last time I had done it with Hatsumi and everyone. And even then, we all somehow had a takoyaki maker.
“If that’s the case, Genichiro-san and everyone should’ve joined us too,” Yoshin muttered.
“Well, you know. They were probably trying to give us space,” I said.
“Oh, yeah. Maybe next time we can have a bigger tako party and invite everyone.”
Yoshin was right both in that a takoyaki party was more fun with a lot of people, and that my family also wanted to celebrate his birthday too. If my family was going to join, then I wanted Yoshin’s parents to join as well...
But actually, Yoshin’s parents had gone out a little while ago too.
“We’re also going on a date—it’s been a while.”
That was what Shinobu-san had said coolly as she and her husband left the house upon my arrival.
The fact that they were letting me and Yoshin be alone was proof of just how much they trusted us. Plus, it was still the middle of the day. If it were nighttime...yeah, they probably wouldn’t have gone out on that date. At least the timing made it so that my surprise was even easier to execute. And though I wasn’t sure myself, Yoshin’s parents were probably okay with giving us this much freedom and alone time.
“My parents aren’t here either, so I feel like we can enjoy being alone for the first time in a while,” I said.
“Yeah, it has been a while, huh?” Yoshin said.
As the mood became even more laid-back, we started to feel awfully relaxed... No, wait. The tako party. I’ve gotta get it ready.
“Okay, then let’s get this party started! I’ll go get the batter and stuff,” I said, standing up and putting on the apron that I’d brought from home. I had all the ingredients—including the batter and the stuffing—in the kitchen, so I had to bring them to Yoshin’s room.